Tech, science, cosplay and news by geeks, for geeks! We make technology sexy!

Main menu

New D&D Edition Verbally Embraces Non-Binary Genders

In all the editions and rule books of Dungeons and Dragons, the RPG has never specifically said that players cannot create characters that are neither specifically male nor female…but the rules have never actually said you could, either.

Until now.

Last Thursday, Wizards of the Coast released a set of “basic rules” for the upcoming fifth edition that are free for downloading, “with the idea of putting this new version of D&D into ‘as many hands as possible,'” according to The Mary Sue.

Chapter 4 is called “Personality and Background” and here is how the rules now read:

Which, is great, but the title is misleading. And the content is outdated. The h-slur is, indeed, a slur against intersex people, and perpetuates harmful stereotypes of intersex conditions. The “trapped in the wrong-sexed body” trope is old as sin and still inaccurate. Some people are androgynes, but that is different from appearing or being androgynous (gender identity, versus gender non-conforming). Pretty much all of these examples fall into stereotypes, and into binary actual gender identities.

Also why are all of the examples about people assigned female?

Like, yayyyy. Progress. *whoo* I totally get being happy about this, it is a step, it is better, power to you if you find it validating. I still don’t see this making it easier for me to introduce a non-binary character and not get aggro’d.